Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
A judge has blocked an RCMP attempt to derail a lawsuit by an Ottawa man who says an RCMP file erroneously linked him to a sexual assault he witnessed 15 years ago.
In a ruling this week, Superior Court Justice Stanley Kershman rejected an RCMP motion to dismiss Chris Moore’s $2.5 million civil lawsuit because Ontario courts lack the jurisdiction to consider it. As well, Kershman ordered the RCMP to pay Moore more than $7,300 in legal costs incurred to fight the motion.
The RCMP added Moore’s name to a database after it investigated a prankish sexual assault on a Prince Edward Island school bus in 1992, when he was 15.
Moore, a 29-year-old father of two who works as a correctional officer at a Regional Detention Centre in Ottawa, was initially a suspect in the 1992 incident but was quickly cleared. The RCMP has acknowledged his name should not have remained in the database.
After the Ottawa Ontario Provincial Police rejected his application for a special constable’s job in 2004, Moore learned the RCMP’s detachment in Montague, P.E.I. disclosed the erroneous information to the OPP during a background check.
Moore alleges the disclosure cost him the OPP job and has destroyed his lifelong dream of becoming a police officer.
The RCMP and OPP, which is also named in the lawsuit, dispute that.
In their motion to dismiss the lawsuit, RCMP lawyers argued the case should properly be heard in P.E.I since the events giving rise to the claim occurred there.
But Kershman disagreed, observing that Moore lives in Ontario and many relevant events took place here.
Moreover, the damages alleged by Moore occurred in Ontario, he noted.
“Damages go to the substance of the claim,” he wrote in his ruling. “The province in which damages are suffered, therefore, must be considered a ‘province in which the claim arises.’” As a result, “the Superior Court of Ontario does have, and should exercise, jurisdiction over this matter.”
Moore’s lawyer, Michel Sicotte, said his client is “happy and relieved” the jurisdictional question has been resolved. “The case is back on the rails,” he said, adding the ruling “clears up one of the issues and now we all know we’re in the right forum.”
Richard Casanova, a justice department lawyer who represents the RCMP, said it’s too soon to say whether his client will appeal. “I still have to review the decision and then consult and decide what are the next steps.”
Before a trial date can be set for Moore’s action, Casanova said Sicotte must fulfil legal undertakings to provide information about the case.
Sicotte said he is working on that now and anticipates he can provide the information by mid-fall. He estimated the matter could go to trial in about a year if there’s no settlement in the interim.
Recent Comments